Uncertain
by Triscribe
Summary: "Seriously? How's that supposed to help me decide if I want to rejoin the Team?" Nightwing shrugged. "I didn't say it would. But the test would see if you're ready - and give you some insight on making the decision." Red Hood is uncertain with his future plans, and Nightwing's out to lend a helping hand. Set about a year after the end of Season 2.


"_Seriously? How's that supposed to help me decide if I want to rejoin the Team?"_

_Nightwing shrugged. "I didn't say it would. But the test would see if you're ready - and give you some insight on making the decision."_

Jason growled, wondering once again if he should have just taken his foster brother's offer and shoved it someplace unpleasant. Too late now, though.

Dropping to the floor of the alley, the eighteen year old checked one last time that his crimson helmet was secure before stalking towards the out of order phone booth. Or rather, the zeta tube transport disguised as an out of order phone booth. He mentally ran through the hacking procedures needed for getting into the machine once again, reaching for a hidden panel on the side that would reveal the internal controls.

Jason paused.

He thought back to the first time he'd tried to get into this thing, and a younger Dick had cackled while letting the smaller boy get frustrated. Eventually, he got around to entering Jason's genetic signature into the system, then showed him the ins and outs of working with the electronics. Afterwards, when the new Robin demanded to know why his big brother had let him struggle, Dick responded with a characteristic smirk.

"Sometimes, it helps to know what's wrong before knowing what's right." Slowly, Jason retracted his hand from the hidden panel, and instead stepped into the booth and shut the door.

"Red Hood, B-2-0, Override h-o-j-watchtower. Priority Blue."

"Recognized, Red Hood, B-2-0."

Dear God, it _worked._ With a flash of light, Jason found himself standing in one of the zeta tubes within the Watchtower.

"_The first step of your test is to enter the zeta tube system, and get yourself to the Watchtower - and remember what you've done wrong in the past." _Admittedly, he thought Nightwing had been referring to the times Jason had tried and failed to hack the teleporters, before Dick taught him a trick for getting past the security coding. But apparently he was already in the system under his new identity - no hacking required.

"Dickie, you sure are one sly son of a Bat." Jason breathed, stepping forward to look out the massive windows, and see the sun peeking over the edge of the Earth. It was an amazing view, but wasn't enough to distract him from the footsteps that were coming from one of the hallway openings.

"_After that, your need to make your way to the garden."_

"_Unseen?"_

_Nightwing just raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you think?" He deadpanned._

Jason _had_ thought his brother meant yes, but after the deal with the zeta tube, he was re-evaluating all of the instructions for his test. So, even as the footsteps entered the room, he refused to fall back into the shadows as was habit.

"Hey there!" A cheerful voice called out. Jason turned to see the pair of young adults that shifted their direction to walk towards him. "You're the new guy that Nightwing mentioned, right?" The guy, wearing armor Jason recognized as the Guardian outfit, asked.

"Yeah." The teen decided not to elaborate. He knew who Mal Duncan was, though they'd never met. The girl was Bumblebee, or Karen Beecher, who Jason had known in his previous life. Her hair was a different style now, but she still lifted her eyebrow in that familiar look.

"Did 'Wing already give you your tour? Or did he just turn you lose up here?" She asked, the first part skeptically, the second in a tone that said she already knew the answer.

"Ah, I know the general layout, but... Could you guys direct me to the garden, by any chance?"

"_Your usual stealth skills aren't what are being tested, Jason. This will take innovation on your part."_ Asking directions. Dickie would be proud.

"Sure!" Guardian said with a grin. "Take that hall, go down a level on the first staircase, and it'll be right in front of you."

"Thanks. I'm Red Hood, by the way."

"Guardian. And this is my girlfriend, Bumblebee."

She stuck an elbow in his ribs, which Guardian made a big show of doubling over in pain from. "But you can call us Karen and Mal." Ignoring her boyfriend, Karen patted him on the arm. "Make sure to tell Nightwing I'm gonna sting him later for making you wander around on your own."

Jason found himself grinning under the helmet. "Count on it. And, thanks again."

"See ya, Hood!" The two continued on their way, Mal complaining heartily about the woes of being a powerless hero even as Karen threw his words back in his face. Shaking his head, Jason turned and went down the indicated hallway. Reasonably sure of himself now, Jason didn't bother to try and sneak at all. He even jumped down the last three steps of the staircase with a little bounce.

Then he saw the garden - or rather, the freakin' _park_. The place was huge, and filled with a mixture of plants he recognized of varied Earth origin, and plenty that he either didn't know at all or must have come from off-world. Seriously, Dickie-bird had made this garden sound like a little greenhouse.

It took Jason almost five minutes to find the hologram displays. Ted Kord (they'd met on all of two occasions, but he still winced in sympathy of the explosion that had killed the guy), Aquagirl (he'd liked Tula, for the little while she'd been on the Team before he died), and Wally... Jason knew what had happened to the speedster, had seen the new Kid Flash on the news, and still wasn't prepared for the tears that suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Then he spotted the last memorial, and Jason's breath caught in his throat. His mind couldn't even come up with an adequate insult to Nightwing for inflicting this on him.

He'd almost forgotten what he used to look like, as Robin. And here his old self was, rubbing salt in old wounds. Dick had told him they all grieved, but the fink never mentioned this...

Footsteps along the path behind him registered in Jason's mind, but he ignored them in favor of continuing to stare at his memorial. Only when they cut off rather abruptly to his right did the teen turn.

Batman was staring at him with wide eyes, an expression which would translate to slack-jawed shock on anyone else's face. The two merely faced one another in silence.

Eventually, though, the silence had to be broken. "...Nightwing talked to you?"

"Yeah. Jerk set this up as a test for me. Guess he meant more emotional than in the way of skills..." Jason trailed off as Batman stepped closer. "Look, B, I know this might cause trouble, for you and the others, but I think I'm finally getting over the anger, and I- I want to know, how you would feel, if I..." Even as he struggled to find the words, Jason felt firm hands take hold of his shoulders.

"Jason. You will always be welcome here, on the Team or not." And with that, the father he'd been ignoring for the better part of six months hugged him.

When they separated, Jason reached up and pulled off his helmet to properly grin at Batman. "Nice as this has been, I still need to whack Nightwing upside the head for tricking me."

"Last I saw, he was hiding from Bumblebee for something."

Jason couldn't help it - he laughed. While the teen tried to regain his composure, Batman walked over to the old hologram, and gently deactivated it. Then he faced Jason once more.

"Think you're ready for the final step?" He considered it while slipping the helmet back onto his head.

"You mean the moment I walk into the room, whip this thing off and yell _Heads up, people, the Jay-man is back _?" Batman raised a brow at him. "Okay, maybe not exactly that, but you get the idea."

The man mumbled something under his breath. "What was that?"

"I said, I swear the only reason Nightwing asked you to come in is so that you'll make things more interesting."

"Hey, if there's one thing the Red Hood is good at, it's shaking up the status quo." Jason grinned. "Now let's go see about getting me back into the swing of things."


End file.
